


Rough Beginnings

by merentha13



Category: The Professionals
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-31
Updated: 2013-08-31
Packaged: 2017-12-25 05:28:06
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 609
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/949150
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/merentha13/pseuds/merentha13
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bodie meets Ray's Mum for the first time</p>
            </blockquote>





	Rough Beginnings

The steady swish of the windscreen wipers and the whisper of tyres on the tarmac filled the uneasy silence in the Capri. Bodie stole a sideways look at his passenger as light from passing headlamps cut through the night’s darkness, briefly illuminating the curly, bowed head. Ray’s Mum.

“I had so many things I was going to say to you, Mr Bodie, when Ray finally got round to introducing us, but none of that seems important now.”

Bodie steeled himself against the tremor in her voice.

“I suppose not.” 

“He said he loved you, was in love with you.”

_God-damn you, Ray, for putting me in this position._

The rain increased its rhythmic drumming on steel and glass, the wipers barely keeping up with it now. 

“Not a pleasant evening. Your Mr Cowley didn’t have to send you after me. I could’ve taken the train.”

“You’re family. CI5 takes care of their own.” 

“And yet my boy is in hospital with a bullet in his heart.”

Bodie closed his eyes, unwilling to respond to the unvoiced accusation of his own failure.

Lightning lit the sky, followed quickly by a loud crack of thunder.

His passenger sighed. “I’m sorry. I know it’s not your fault.” 

He watched as Ray’s mum fussed at the pleats of her skirt with shaking fingers. He wanted to offer her comfort, but he had none to give, and he knew it wouldn’t be welcome just now.

“I never wanted him to join the police, you know. I wanted him to be an artist. He’s a sensitive soul, my Ray, and I feared that the things he would see and experience as a copper would destroy that in him, that it would crush his ability to see the world through those artist’s eyes... A real talent he had...”

Her face was marked by tears, both real and the stippled images projected onto her pale skin by the shadows the raindrops cast on the windscreen.

Bodie dug in his pocket and offered her a handkerchief. 

“Thank you. I never seem to have one of these when I need one.” She laughed softly. Memories of a dozen other handkerchiefs and a dozen other cheeky grins left him aching inside.

“He still paints,” he said quietly, surprised that he offered the information.

“He does?" There was the hint of a smile in her words. "That’s good.” 

She took a deep breath and spoke to the windscreen. “A mother has dreams for her children, Mr Bodie. We forget that they may not be the same dreams that the child has for himself. It’s hard for a mother to let go of those dreams of hers, to let the child make his own way.”

“Ray is not a child.”

“Ah, but he is, Mr Bodie. He’s _my_ child, and always will be. It doesn’t matter how grey his hair gets, how many years pass – he’s still my child.” She turned to face him as the rain continued its staccato beat on the roof and the bonnet and the windows. “Do you love him?”

Bodie checked the traffic and then pulled over to the side of the road. He turned to Ray’s mother and took her hands into his. He gently soothed the cold skin. He looked into familiar green eyes and saw his own pain and worry and fear and, yes, love for Ray, reflected back at him and felt the tension of the last hour melt away. The rain slowed.

“Yes.”

She studied his face for several seconds and finally nodded. “That’s all right then.” She smiled and squeezed the hands wrapped around her own. “Let’s go see our Ray.”

**Author's Note:**

> Written for a DIY Challenge at Tea & Swiss Roll: Prompt - first meeting for Bodie & Ray's Mum


End file.
